Tidbits of Advice: Nursing

Now again I can only use the disclaimer that this is my experience. I know not everyone is able to be home all day or produce milk or even not everyone's baby takes to nursing. Ok, with that said, here are my tips on nursing:

*Try to get that baby hooked up as soon as possible. Miss MVJ was a natural and took to it right away, which probably aided in my milk coming in shortly thereafter.
*Use your lactation consultant! She taught me different holds (what?!), how often I should be nursing, what was normal, etc. She also gave me some samples of lansinoh cream.
*I used lansinoh cream quite a bit in the first few weeks, and now only occasionally because I'm not usually sore very much anymore. (Oh -- that was another thing on our list from our first shopping trip!)
*Prepare to pump -- even in the first few days. I felt just miserable because I was so full all the time. Pumping not only took away the pressure, but also stored up some milk for MVJ's first bottle experience and for when Mommy is out of the house.
*Get a good nursing cover (or two) -- my Mom made mine! They are perfect for feeding on the go or for when company is over. It took me a few tries to get comfortable with it, but now I feel somewhat like an old pro... : )
*So I don't know if this is normal or not, but every time I nurse, the other side starts leaking. So whenever I nurse, I always have to have a burp cloth on the other side.
*There is some debate over this, but I've found that I just nurse on one side until she's done. Sometimes after burping, she'll go to the other side, but sometimes it's just one side at a feeding. You can also do like 5 minutes on one side, switch and keep going like that. Whatever works for you!
*Chi-chi is just getting into a routine, but before she would go two hours at a time up to like five hours at a time in between feedings. It was quite convenient that I could be with her all the time to just be on her schedule.
*Nursing pads : there are the convenient disposable ones or economical/"green" reusable ones -- I have both -- the reusables are easy to just throw in the washer to clean. I use the disposables when I travel. Also, for the first probably two months I had to wear my nursing bras/pads to bed because I was still trying to get in sync with MVJ's needs.